Note 1. François de Bonnivard (14961570?) was the head of a small priory outside Geneva. From political and religious motives he espoused the cause of the republic of Geneva against the Duke of Savoy, who had been granted seignorial rights over the city by the prince bishop. The duke imprisoned him in the castle of Chillon during the years 1530 to 1536, four of which he spent in the dungeon below the level of the Lake of Geneva. When Chillon was captured by the forces of his party, he was released and was made a member of the council of Geneva, and given a pension: he married four times, having become a Protestant. It will be seen from these facts that Byrons prisoner is less the historical character than his own ideal conception of the heroic and pathetic victim of religious persecution. (Bronson.) [back]